COVID-19 Mapping and Mitigation in Schools (CoMMinS)

This proposal will meet the urgent need for mapping and mitigation of COVID-19 in schools in light of their planned full re-opening in September 2020. Schools pose a major challenge due to features of their operation including the likelihood of cases being asymptomatic[1], the high number of contacts, the presence of vulnerable persons, and the potential for rapid onward transmission to family contacts of children and staff[2,3]. These challenges must be weighed against the benefits to children including resuming their education, peer interaction and social development[3,4]. A deeper understanding of infection history and dynamics and enhanced mitigation measures will have widespread benefit for outbreak control and future pandemic resilience. We will undertake a large-scale mapping study of prior and current COVID-19 infection in pupils and staff, including prospective testing over a 6-month period. This will dramatically enhance our understanding of infection patterns in this age group. Results will be mapped to home postcode location and linked to NHS system-wide data to highlight area-based and individual-level risk factors. To mitigate against infection transmission we will adapt evidence-based digital tools and co-create whole school implementation interventions to support positive infection control practices by staff, parents and pupils. We will co-design and develop a system to collate multiple sources of information to augment contact tracing and facilitate outbreak control. We Zill e[SlRUe Whe iPSacW Rf UeWXUQiQg WR VchRRl fRU VWaff aQd SXSilV¶ PeQWal ZellbeiQg, their attitudes towards actions taken to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, and potential interventions to address identified difficulties.